Nitish criticises petrol price hike

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday criticised the hike in petrol prices and said the UPA government at the Centre is working at the `mercy of God`.

Kumar was talking to reporters here before leaving for New Delhi to attend the oath-taking ceremony of President elect Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday.

Launching a broadside against the Centre, he said, "The prices of petrol have once again gone up...The central government is running at the mercy of God. The present government has nothing to do with common people ... Let prices skyrocket but this government has no care for the common people."

On Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holding a meeting on drought-like situation in the country, Kumar said if the Centre has accepted that the situation exists it should have opened the treasury for the victims and should not discriminate.

Bihar is tackling the drought related problems with its own resources and the state will not seek help, he said.

Asked to comment on the reported differences between Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and the Congress, he parried it saying it was an "internal issue" of UPA.